HPC In the News
SDSC Receives $1.3M Award from the NSF
Researchers at the San Diego Supercomputer Center (SDSC) at the University of California, San Diego have received a three-year, $1.3 million award from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to develop a web-based resource that lets scientists seamlessly share and access preliminary results and transient data from research on a variety of platforms, including mobile devices. Called SeedMe – short for ‘Swiftly Encode, Explore and Disseminate My Experiments’ – the new award is from the NSF’s Data Infrastructure Building Blocks (DIBBs) program, part of the foundation’s Cyberinfrastructure Framework for 21st Century Science and Engineering (CIF21). The DIBBs program encourages development of robust and shared data-centric cyberinfrastructure capabilities to promote interdisciplinary and collaborative research. A summary and list of the 2014 DIBBs awards can be found on the NSF website. To read further, please visit http://www.hpcwire.com/off-the-wire/sdsc-receives-1-3m-award-nsf/.
NSF Promotes Data Science with $31M Award: Indiana University is a Recipient
The National Science Foundation (NSF) announced today some $31 million in awards for 17 innovative projects geared toward the promotion of data science and a robust data infrastructure. The National Science Foundation (NSF) seeks to improve the nation’s capacity in data science by investing in the development of infrastructure, making it easer to use data, and increasing the number of skilled data scientists. The NSF is taking a building block approach to data science. Beyond the hardware, software and networking components, there is the human element, the research community. The current awards are considered an extension of las One of these awards went to Geoffrey Fox, a professor of computer science and informatics at Indiana University, who is developing middleware and analytics libraries to support the scaling of data science on high-performance computers. Test applications come from the fields of geospatial information systems (GIS), biomedicine, epidemiology and remote sensing. To read further, please visit http://www.hpcwire.com/2014/10/01/nsf-promotes-data-science-31m-award/.
Carnegie Mellon Leads New NSF Project to Improve Learning
Carnegie Mellon University will lead a five-year, $5 million early implementation project sponsored by the National Science Foundation to improve educational outcomes and advance the science of learning by creating a large, distributed infrastructure called LearnSphere that will securely store data on how students learn. By accessing more than 550 datasets generated from interactive tutoring systems, educational games and massively open online courses, or MOOCs, course developers and instructors will be able to improve teaching and learning through data-driven course design. Mining this educational data also will help researchers obtain deeper insights into how people learn. To read further, please visit http://www.cmu.edu/news/stories/archives/2014/october/october2_learnsphere.html.
XSEDE Resource Partner Jülich Supercomputing Centre to Develop HPC Platform for the Human Brain Project
Forschungszentrum Jülich announces the successful launch of a pre-commercial procurement of research and development services on “interactive supercomputers.” Interactivity will be a key feature of a future high-performance computing infrastructure for brain research. Three bidding consortia comprising leading providers of HPC solutions have each been awarded with a contract. Forschungszentrum Jülich, leading the creation of the Human Brain Project’s High Performance Computing (HPC) Platform, is conducting a Pre-Commercial Procurement (PCP) of innovative supercomputing technology solutions for the HBP that meet the specific requirements of this groundbreaking project. To read further, please visit http://www.fz-juelich.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/UK/EN/2014/14-10-01HBP_PCP.html.
SC14 News
SC14 Announces New Plenary to Focus on the Importance of Supercomputers in Society
Supercomputing 2014 (SC14) is announcing a new “HPC Matters” plenary that will examine the important roles that high performance computing (HPC) plays in every aspect of society from simplifying manufacturing to tsunami warning systems and hurricane predictions to improving care for cancer patients. “High performance computing is uniquely valuable in the world today,” observes Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s Trish Damkroger, General Chair for SC14. “As researchers and engineers push the boundaries of their professions in the pursuit of a better future for all, they are rapidly moving into areas in which physical experiments are not practical, or even possible. HPC matters today more than ever.” For more information, please visit http://sc14.supercomputing.org/blog/sc14-announces-new-plenary-focus-importance-supercomputers-society.
SC14 to Deliver a Diverse Lineup of Invited Talks
Researchers and managers alike know that conferences and workshops like SC are critical to an innovation culture such as that reflected in the international supercomputing community. Through sessions, workshops, tutorials, and informal interactions, HPC practitioners get feedback on ideas that shape their future work, and the collective result is that the community as a whole continues to thrive and innovate while preserving vital coherence in its overall technology and research agenda. The Invited Talks program at SC is an important catalyst in this collective wayfinding. The Invited Talks feature leaders from all areas of HPC, and summarize important contributions within a broader context and from a longer-term perspective. For a list of invited talks and their descriptions, please visit http://sc14.supercomputing.org/blog/sc14-deliver-diverse-lineup-invited-talks?utm_content=bufferf277e&utm_medium=social&utm_source=linkedin.com&utm_campaign=buffer.
Honored
Carnegie Mellon’s Mary Shaw Honored as a Nation’s Top Scientist and Innovator
CCC Blog
President Barack Obama has selected Mary Shaw, University Professor of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University, as one of the recipients of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation. Our Nation’s highest honor for achievement and leadership in advancing the fields of science and technology. Shaw, a computer science faculty member since 1971, is a leader in software engineering research whose work on software architecture helped establish it as a recognized discipline. Selecting an appropriate architecture is now recognized as a critical step in the engineering of complex software systems. She also is an educational innovator who has developed computer science curricula from the introductory to the doctoral level. To read further, please visit http://www.cccblog.org/2014/10/06/mary-shaw-honored-as-a-nations-top-scientist-and-innovator/.
HPC Call for Participation
IPDPS 2015
Full Call for Papers: 29th IEEE International Parallel & Distributed Processing Symposium
May 25-29, 2015
- Hyderabad International Convention Center
, Hyderabad, India
Abstracts Deadline - October 10, 2014
Submissions Deadline - October 17, 2014
Authors are invited to submit manuscripts that present original unpublished research in all areas of parallel and distributed processing, including the development of experimental or commercial systems. Work focusing on emerging technologies is especially welcome. For a complete list of suggested topics and further information, please visit http://www.ipdps.org/ipdps2015/2015_call_for_papers.html.
Upcoming Workshops, Conferences and Webinars
SC'14
November 16 – 21, 2014 - New Orleans, Louisiana
HPC is helping to solve our hardest problems in the world. For more than two decades, the SC Conference has been the place to build and share the innovations that are making life-changing discoveries possible. Register and join the community in November to share our collective accomplishments and to engage in these important conversations. Register by October 15, 2014 at http://sc14.supercomputing.org/register. To read further, please visit http://sc14.supercomputing.org/.
Research News From Around the World
Brain Cell Linker Dependence Shown by XSEDE/TACC Supercomputer Simulations
It all begins in the brain as a flood, tens of millions of neurotransmitters handed off from one neuron to another in just a fraction of a second. Stubborn walls that enclose our neurons keep out the signal flow of one cell to another needed for brain activity. Chemists call this gatekeeper of our thoughts an ion channel, which takes a key in the form of a chemical neurotransmitter, unlocking the channel and opening it. The discovery of how ion channels work earned chemist Roderick MacKinnon the Nobel Prize in 2003. Now scientists are making new discoveries of the inner workings of ion channels that function as brain receptors. To read further, please visit http://qualcomm.com/.
Iowa State University to Utilize Cori Supercomputer for Research
A team of Iowa State University nuclear physicists is preparing to scale up its computer codes for Cori, the next-generation supercomputer being developed by the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center. Iowa State’s Pieter Maris and James Vary want to use the supercomputer to study the basic physics of the burning sun and exploding stars. Those studies could one day lead to safer, more efficient forms of nuclear power. “We’ll work with a select group of top computer scientists and applied mathematicians to co-develop new math algorithms and new schemes in order to get the best science out of this new supercomputing architecture,” said Vary, an Iowa State professor of physics and astronomy. To read further, please visit http://www.news.iastate.edu/news/2014/09/30/cori.
Projects Headed by University of Wyoming Researchers Selected for Supercomputer Use
Carbon sequestration, planet formation, and two projects that focus on water are the subjects of research University of Wyoming faculty members are conducting with the assistance of the supercomputer in Cheyenne. Four UW research projects were recently awarded computational time and storage space at the NCAR-Wyoming Supercomputing Center (NWSC). Each project was critically reviewed by an external panel of experts and evaluated on the experimental design, computational effectiveness, efficiency of resource use, and broader impacts — such as how the project involves both UW and NCAR researchers, strengthens UW’s research capacity, enhances UW’s computational programs, or involves research in a new or emerging field. To read further, please visit http://www.uwyo.edu/uw/news/2014/09/four-projects-headed-by-uw-researchers-selected-for-supercomputer-use.html.
An Alliance of Major Players to Guide Open Source Software
The New York Times
Several large technology firms have formed the TODO Project, a group dedicated to expediting and making open source development more focused. TODO, which stands for "talk openly, develop openly," was the brainchild of Facebook's open source team. Other founding members include Google and Twitter, cloud storage firms Box and Dropbox, open source repository Github, and online learning platform Khan Academy. Although the group has not announced what open source software it plans to focus on, it has said its priorities will be promoting standards for updating open source software, securing legal compliance, and generally developing and promoting best practices for open source development. "There is a problem here we all feel is not getting better anytime soon," says Facebook's Jay Parikh. "We feel there is a speed at which things have to move." Since the project was announced, more than 30 other companies, including The New York Times, have added themselves to its roster, although it is unclear what the standards are for joining. To read further, please visit http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/09/15/an-alliance-of-major-players-to-guide-open-source-software/?_php=true&_type=blogs&_r=0.
Educator News and Opportunities
How a Race for Female Tech Talent Might Narrow the Industry’s Gender Pay Gap
In report after report, companies like Apple, Google and Facebook all acknowledge that their workforces tilt heavily male. Silicon Valley companies are notoriously dominated by men, particularly in leadership roles and in jobs involving advanced technical skills. Men account for 7 in 10 workers at Twitter, for example. Many of these companies have pledged to do better — and what's heartening about this is that efforts to improve gender diversity could also wind up accelerating other positive workforce trends: namely, closing the gap between men and women when it comes to wages. Data already suggests that the gender pay gap is less pronounced in tech than in some important fields. Meanwhile, women's wages as a percentage of men's have been gaining ground for years, not just in technology but across the economy as a whole. The gender pay gap in tech is still worrying, not least because the sector's become so vital to our national well-being. But it's a promising trajectory we're on. To read further, please visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/09/08/how-a-race-for-female-tech-talent-might-narrow-the-industrys-gender-pay-gap/.
Educator Webinar: NASA STEM Spanish Immersion- National Climate Assessment in Spanish
Wednesday, October 15, 2014 from 4-5pm ET
Investigate the National Climate Assessment (or NCA) report during Earth Science Week with Research Scientist Alison Delgado. Get an in-depth view on how our climate is changing and what observations are telling us all in Spanish. Discover how to integrate the National Climate Assessment into your STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) classroom through NASA hands-on activities in Spanish. Engage students with NASA unique projects including how to use clouds, climate and weather through NASA’s Students’ Cloud Observations On-Line or S’COOL project. The entire session and lessons will be presented in Spanish. For more information, please visit http://nasaesw.strategies.org/climate-assessment-spanish/. For more information about this session please contact NASA Education Specialist Marilé Colón Robles at Marile.ColonRobles@nasa.gov.
Six UC Davis C-STEM Courses Receive A-G Approval from the University of California
This year, C-STEM will support six high school courses with A-G approval and four middle school courses.
High school courses developed by the C-STEM Center and A-G approved available for 2014-2015 are:
• Algebra 1 with Computing (c - math credit)
• Algebra 1 with Computing and Robotics (c - math credit)
• Integrated Mathematics 1 with Computing (c - math credit)
• Integrated Mathematics 1 with Computing and Robotics (c - math credit)
• Introduction to Computer Programming with C (g – elective)
• Computing with Robotics (g – elective)
Middle school courses developed by the C-STEM Center are:
• Math 7 with Computing
• Math 8 with Computing
• Computer Programming with Ch
• Robotics
Descriptions of these courses can be found at http://c-stem.ucdavis.edu/curriculum/high-school/.
K-12 Education in California: The Next Four Years
California educational leaders in both the legislative and executive branches of State government have, over the past four years, held consistent views on how to best reform education and have taken unprecedented steps to support local schools to improve student outcomes. A new video and a new report give insights on the vision of two of the key educational leaders in California. Applied academics and career technical education will remain important components of California’s educational system. Another focus of change in education is on measures of accountability for college and career readiness. A new research report on this topic, entitled: Accountability for College and Career Readiness: Developing a New Paradigm, recommends accountability should rest on three pillars: a focus on meaningful learning, enabled by professionally skilled and committed educators, supported by adequate and appropriate resources. The report was co-authored by Linda Darling-Hammond and builds on her book The Flat World and Education: How America’s commitment to equity will determine our future. To read the report, please visit epaa.asu.edu/ojs/article/download/1724/1334.
For Educators: SD Book Project Opens First Saturday of Each Month
Located at the NW corner of 15th and F (downtown SD), down the ramp and straight back
This is a great opportunity to build the class library and obtain a lot of books to give to your students (or to your librarian or to yourself! They have every type of book imaginable and you just need to be associated in some way with a nonprofit. For more information, please visit http://sdbookproject.org/.
Bugs in the System: Computer Science Teacher Certification in the U.S.
It has been said that we teach our young people what we value, but the importance of Computer Science in our daily lives hasn't translated to a respectable presence in classrooms. Nor is it represented in the confused, disparate and sometimes absurd teacher certification processes that those who want to teach Computer Science find themselves navigating. Computer Science teacher certification across the nation is typified by confounding processes and illogical procedures--bugs in the system that keep it from functioning as intended. Bugs in the System reports on an 18-month research project to determine the nature of Computer Science teacher certification in the U.S. and details the results for each state and the District of Columbia. As these state "report cards" clearly show, each state has its own process, its own definition of Computer Science, and its own ideas about where it fits in a young person's educational program (if at all). To download, please visit https://csta.acm.org/ComputerScienceTeacherCertification/sub/CSTA_BugsInTheSystem.pdf.
Student Engagement and Opportunities
NASA Summer 2015 Recruitment Letter for Student Interns with Disabilities
Application Deadline – March 1m 2015
NASA is looking to increase the number of students with disabilities pursuing science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) careers through our internship programs. Disability means both physical and mental disabilities. NASA has a two-percent hiring goal for employment of people with disabilities and internships are a good way to get experience. Students can apply for Summer 2015 internships, starting on November 1, 2014. We encourage you to apply early because the best opportunities are likely to be filled early. Plus, your likelihood of being selected decreases the longer you wait. You can register for an account anytime at the One Stop Shopping Initiative (OSSI): NASA Internships, Fellowships, and Scholarships (NIFS) at http://intern.nasa.gov/. Summer 2015 internships run for ten weeks for college students and six weeks for high school students. All student interns get paid. For example, last summer, at Goddard college students received a stipend of $6,000 and high school students $2,100. As an intern, you are responsible for your own housing. NASA internships for college and high school students are also offered during spring, fall and Year Long Sessions through the OSSI website. Questions can be addressed to Kenneth A. Silberman, Esq., U.S. Supreme Court, Maryland, & Patent Bars at kenneth.a.silberman@nasa.gov.
Online Education Company edX Offering Free High School Courses
The Boston Globe
Online learning collaborative edX, a partnership between Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), has launched massive open online courses (MOOCs) specifically tailored for high school students. edX got its start making high-level courses from Harvard and MIT available to anyone with an Internet connection, and most of its content continues to be college, if not graduate, level. But a growing portion of its user base is high school age and CEO Anant Agarwal says edX saw an opportunity to use MOOCs to help address a pervasive college readiness problem around the country. edX launched 26 new high school courses last week, on topics ranging from calculus and computer science, biology and chemistry, to French and Spanish, history and psychology. The courses were developed by 14 educational institutions, including the University of California, Berkeley, Georgetown University, and Weston Public High School. Some of the courses are designed to enable students to take the College Board's Advanced Placement exams for their given subject, and schools could allow students to take the courses for credit. Agarwal says the new courses also might be attractive for adult learners who want to brush up on skills or start exploring a new field. O read further, please visit http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/09/09/online-education-company-edx-expanding-offer-free-courses-aimed-high-school-students/wWdR6XQakRKIxAhaH580ZP/story.html.
Other Computational News
Why the U.S. Might Just Need a Federal Commission on Robots
The Washington Post
University of Washington School of Law professor Ryan Calo makes a compelling argument for establishing a Federal Robotics Commission (FRC), according to a paper published by the Brookings Institution. Calo says an FRC could potentially help extract sense and insight from the many technological applications that separate human agency from execution. As an example of where such a body could be useful, he cites the U.S. Department of Transportation's assignment to investigate possible software issues underlying the sudden acceleration of Toyota vehicles involved in serious accidents. The agency turned to the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration for assistance, but Calo says such ad hoc cross-agency consultancy is not sustainable as a long-term strategy. To read further, please visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-switch/wp/2014/09/15/why-the-u-s-might-just-need-a-federal-commission-on-robots/.
HERB: A Robot That Can Unload a Dishwasher and (Sometimes) Take Apart an Oreo
The Washington Post
In an interview, Carnegie Mellon University Personal Computer Lab director and professor Siddhartha Srinivasa discusses his work with the Home Exploring Robot Butler (HERB). The robot has advanced manipulation skills that enable it to perform multiple functions, including unloading a dishwasher, disassembling an Oreo cookie, and acting in a play. "[HERB] was designed and developed with the main goal of manipulating in cluttered and uncertain environments with and around people," Srinivasa notes. HERB was programmed to take the Oreo apart through the algorithmic crafting of a special Oreo cookie detector, and Srinivasa says the differing thicknesses of the cookies and cream have been problematic, with HERB only succeeding two times out of 10. To read further, please visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/herb-a-robot-that-can-unload-a-dishwasher-and-sometimes-take-apart-an-oreo/2014/09/15/d1996eee-26ee-11e4-8593-da634b334390_story.html.
Social Media News
Researchers' New App Outs iPhone and Android Phone Energy Hogs
Network World
Researchers from the University of Helsinki and the University of California, Berkeley have developed Carat, free iOS and Android software that identifies which apps drain the most power from device batteries and visualizes fragmentation in Apple and Android mobile operating systems. Carat already has produced live stats based on about two terabytes of data taken from more than 300,000 apps downloaded by about 750,000 users. Carat takes measurements of app energy use on a device and combines that data with hundreds of thousands of other users' data. Current data suggests 2 percent of iOS apps and 12 percent of Android apps are described as energy hogs, and about half the devices run at least one app with a high level of power consumption. To read further, please visit http://www.networkworld.com/article/2684098/mobile-apps/researchers-new-app-outs-iphone-and-android-phone-energy-hogs.html.
How Google's Autonomous Car Passed the First U.S. State Self-Driving Test
IEEE Spectrum
The Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles so far is the only government body to test Google's self-driving automobiles on open roads, and the May 2012 challenge was successfully passed almost immediately. Information about the test shows Google selected the route and set limits on the road and weather conditions the vehicle would encounter, and also notes Google engineers had to take control of the vehicle several times during the trip. The autonomous Prius functioned without fail in smooth, everyday traffic, manned by examiners who noted the car identified and halted for pedestrians and merged seamlessly onto a freeway up to the local speed limit. They also observed the vehicle was perhaps overly cautious and slow in its approach to some traffic lights. There were several incidents during the vehicle's 22-kilometer test drive when it was confronted by unanticipated events. To read further, please visit http://spectrum.ieee.org/transportation/advanced-cars/how-googles-autonomous-car-passed-the-first-us-state-selfdriving-test.
Yahoo Eyeing Snapchat After Alibaba Windfall
CNNMoney
Seeking to replicate the success of its investment in Alibaba, Yahoo (YHOO, Tech30) is reportedly setting its sights on Snapchat. The Internet giant is in talks to sink $20 million into the photo messaging startup in a deal that would value Snapchat at $10 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. The move would mark Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer's latest attempt to keep shareholders happy while she works to revitalize the company. Yahoo's bet on Alibaba (BABA, Tech30) paid off big. It provided a massive windfall of around $5 billion (after taxes) from the Chinese conglomerate's IPO, which was the largest in history. It also gave Yahoo much needed buzz and momentum. Yahoo's stock has soared 20% in the past six months, often jumping whenever Alibaba's IPO was in the news. To read further, please visit http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/06/investing/yahoo-snapchat-stake/index.html?hpt=hp_t2.
